Fungal map of mutations

PNNL’s Dr. Scott Baker is working with the DOE’s Joint Genome Institute to understand how T. reesei fungus can break down biomass for better biofuel production.

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RICHLAND, Wash. –
During World War II, T. reesei frustrated American Army quartermasters in the South Pacific by speeding up the rate at which canvas supplies wore out. Today, scientists are learning how the same fungus is a key producer of industrial enzymes that are used, among other applications, to break down biomass for better biofuel production.

PNNL’s Dr. Scott Baker is part of an international team of scientists with the DOE’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI), the French applied research center IFP, and the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) providing the first genome-wide look at what these mutations are in order to understand just how cellulase production was first improved using T. reesei, and how the process can be further improved.

Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an annual budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. As the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter.